Have you ever wanted to play as an amphibian samurai with butterfly wings in an MMORPG setting? No? Well, too bad, because that's exactly what I did in my latest Champions Online Closed Beta Preview. Not only that, but this has been one of the first games to truly dazzle me with their artistic development and incredibly expansive character development system.

Announced to be released on September 1st, 2009, Champions Online will be the second super-hero MMORPG to hit the markets since the recently updated City of Heroes. Now, I have to admit at this point that I've never really been a comic-book guy - in fact, I would say that I'm only really 'aware' of Hollywood reincarnations, like Batman, Iron Man, X-Men and Watchmen. When I first set foot into Champions Online's massive universe, however, those initial uneasy feelings of not being the 'target demographic' quickly disappeared as I got to experience this fun, energetic super-hero MMORPG.

Our friends over at Cryptic continue to send us goodies from their upcoming Super Hero MMORPG, Champions Online. In our latest care package they've included three new exclusive screenshots that give an exciting look at Millennium City. Give them a look by clicking the image below, and stay tuned for tomorrow when we get an exclusive look at the history behind Millennium City.

With Free Realms launching soon, we've been digging to bring our community the best Free Realms coverage around. Our shovel hit a metaphorical treasure chest today and we're happy to bring you a plethora of new Free Realms lore. After the jump, feast your eyes on a treasure that contains the most complete compilation of Free Realms lore to date. Enjoy, and stay tuned for our preview of Free Realms tomorrow afternoon.

Yay, more Aion screenshots - now with more giant scary heads! The team has released more Aion media, and I have to say, these are some pretty nice shots. Feel free to check out the rest of the screenshots over here! That last one's fairly epic.

Free-to-play MMOs are a dime a dozen at the moment, with the lion's share of them being developed in the Far East. Runes of Magic is one such game, coming from Taiwanese developer Runewalker Entertainment. However, I'd been hearing that RoM isn't your typical free-to-play game, so I decided to give it a try before its official release on March 19th.

On first impressions, RoM seems to be very much "by the numbers", containing six fantasy-based classes (Warrior, Scout, Rogue, Mage, Priest and Knight), with some of the female classes struggling to stay fully clothed. However, once a character reaches level 10 it can travel to the city of Varanas to take on a second class. A character's secondary class gives a boost to its attributes and also enables the use of some of the class's skills. Even better, if you pick a secondary class that uses a different type of energy for its attacks, you'll end up with two separate energy bars on your character. In other words, if you run out of energy for one type of skill you still have your second energy bar to draw from.

Last month we had the opportunity to talk with Chris Hager about Aion and some of its finer points. Since then we've given you several exclusive looks into the world of Atreia. Today we have four brand new screenshots that are some of the best that we've seen yet. Check them out!

Our friends at Cryptic have given us a special look at one of the newer zones available in the Champions Online beta. What's more, Bill Roper wrote us some commentary which we've published with our screenshots, after the jump! If you haven't already signed up for beta, you can do so here.

Yesterday Kain and I were treated to a tour of Game Update 51, which is expected to launch on March 10 (with the usual caveats).  As Christie "Kiara" Renzetti (EQII Community Manager) informed us, the changes and additions to the zone range from new content for the original zone to two raid zones and a third void shard armor set.  And don't let us forget Brewday!  We were also joined by Nathan "Kaitheel" McCall and Brett "TimeTraveller" Scheinert for a little Q&A.

If you're impatient and just want to see the pictures, click here to enjoy the screenshot gallery.  And if those pictures look like they could be more crisp?  Well, there's a lot of heat effects in Lavastorm now!  Otherwise, read on!

Level 45-55 Content
The original content of Lavastorm has been updated.  Notably, mob levels have been edged up a little and there are new quest hubs and progression.  Nathan warned that if you have active writs in Lavastorm, you'll want to wrap them up before GU51 launches.  Some just needed level tweaking, others had to be completely redone.  After GU51, the majority of level 40-45 writs will take you to Everfrost.  All other old content and quests in Lavastorm should be preserved.

It's not a secret that we're excited about Star Trek Online. Fortunately, our friends at Cryptic seem to like us and have extended yet another opportunity to show you how the game is shaping up. This time around they've sent us five exclusive screenshots and explained the concept of Episodic Content.

One of the features that sets Star Trek Online apart is its Episodic Content. We don't want players to be stuck in the same environment for three hours hunting tribbles until they level. None of the Star Trek TV episodes take place on one set -- neither should STO's content.
 
Our Episodic Content is designed to take you to a number of widely differing environments during a single gameplay session.
 
For example, you may be assigned to visit a planet within Federation protected space. When you arrive in orbit, you find yourself in a tense standoff with a heavily armed Orion Syndicate battleship. After dealing with the Orions, you send an away team to the planet's surface and discover that the Orions were providing cover for a Klingon force that has beamed in to break up a diplomatic conference. You stop the Klingons' sabotage and then go into the embassy, rescue the diplomats and confront the Klingons' commander, who has information about a second Klingon attack already in progress.
 
Beam back to your ship and warp to another planet, where you face a Klingon fleet in a climatic space battle. Millions of lives are depending on you -- can you avert a galactic tragedy?
 
That's what Episodic Content in STO is like.

Sony Online Entertainment has given us the rare opportunity to introduce a new villain that has at long last been added into DC Universe Online. Solomon Grundy, or as I call him "Zombie Hulk", has found his way from the swamp to the city and if the media we've been sent is any indication, he's ready to kick some Superhero butt.

Solomon Grundy™ is part zombie and part plant, a bizarre, centuries-old half-human life form filled with confused anger.  At times he is a rampaging monster, at others a calculating and coldblooded villain.

His enhanced strength makes him a threat even to the DC Universe's strongest heroes.  As an immortal, massive blows or injuries can't kill or hurt him -  afterwards, he simply regenerates to rise again.

Recently, he's been seen skulking in swamps, sewers, and abandoned buildings in both Metropolis and Gotham City. Denizens of these cities beware the low growl of "Solomon Grundy, born on a Monday…"

Check out our exclusive screenshots. If you'd like a closer look, we're also hosting Concept Art and Renders.